THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT - A MAN OF HIS WORD AND PROMISES

Newly elected president SERGE SARGSYAN yesterday had a meeting with the students of the State Economic University and answered a number of questions arousing interest in the public as well as clarified the information presented to credulous through the “channels” of the Armenian Pan-National Movement

The students were particularly interested to know whether the events of March 1 merely resulted from Ter-Petrosyan’s hatred and whether Ter-Petrosyan was a genius that he managed to surge a wave of protest within a period 3-4 months or he just managed to take advantage of the public dissatisfaction accumulated in the course of several years.
“I don’t think we have ever dealt with a genius. What happened on March 1 essentially differs from the process called elections. It’s one thing that L. Ter-Petrosan received 350 thousand votes and quite a different thing that a group of people appeared in the street and committed unlawful actions. Of course, there are a great umber of problems and issues in our society and a significant part of our population is dissatisfied with the existing situation.
And have I ever said that all the problems are solved in our society? Have I said in the pre-election period that there are no dissatisfied people in our society and justice always takes its course? Naturally, some of those people expressed their dissatisfaction by voting in favor of Ter-Petrosyan,” S. Sargsyan said in response to the question.
But among the populist demonstrators there were also many people who were dissatisfied not because of injustice but because they were discharged from posts for working improperly and wanted more than they have now, “dissatisfied ex-Ministers, ex-Deputy Ministers, officers removed from the Army and the police. People who will be dissatisfied even if our living standards are equal to the living standards of Switzerland.”
After all, “just compare the pre-election speeches of the candidates and see who spoke about solidarity and who said ‘the one who is not with us is scum.’ Who spoke about patriotism and who said that we should pay a contribution to Azerbaijan for starting a war? See who demonstrated a restrained conduct and who called the people traitors; who said ‘we’ll hold transparent elections’ and who said ‘we’ll spoil everything in any case,’ ” the Prime Minister added, proposing to compare the facts instead of eavesdropping the rumors and only thereafter draw far-reaching conclusions.
What to do to neutralize the tension observed in the public after the March 1 events and how to rule out the repetition of the “parade” of spite? In response to this question, S. Sargsyan made the following statement, “To achieve that, it is necessary to solve a great number of problems. But the most important thing is for us to be able to develop an atmosphere of trust in the law enforcement agencies so as in terms of their professional skills and attitude towards the people, the law enforcement agencies will reach at least the level of the present-day Armenian Army. We are obliged to have a law enforcement system capable of ensuring the security of the RA citizens.”
What is meant here concerns not only those who were directly involved in the street disorders but also, “perhaps, the citizens who have nothing to do with all that. We, as a state, are obliged to totally guarantee the people’s right to ownership. We are obliged to totally ensure our citizens’ right to life,” S. Sargsyan is convinced.
After all, there are protest rallies in any country, but in order to prevent them from developing into mass violence the law enforcement agencies are required to be professional and technically equipped, enjoy trust among the people and the international community. Unfortunately, the March 1 events did not increase that trust in the authorities and the elections in general.
There is one way for mitigating such distrust, “to work well.” S. Sargsyan said. He also posed the following counter-question, “Do you think those events would have happened had I received 54 or 56 percent of votes?” “They would have happened by all means,” the hall responded. “Thanks for thinking so,” the Prime Minister said sincerely, receiving the approval of the auditorium. The post-electoral anxiety, i.e. the splitting, which is characteristic even to the developed and welfare countries, certainly gives way to concern. But the Prime Minister is much more concerned about the spiteful ideas, consistently and continuously instilled into the public, “This is what we must be able to mitigate. I have said and repeat again that I will be the President of all the citizens of Armenia and not only of those who have voted in my favor. I have said that all those who are in the neighboring square are our brothers and sisters. I have said it sincerely because we are a small nation, and we must be able to be united.”
What’s the newly elected President’s attitude towards the unprecedented event that Armenian people killed one another in the heart of Yerevan? “Negative, extremely negative. What could be my attitude towards the fact that an Armenian stabbed an MP with a knife in Yerevan in broad daylight just because the MP was trying to protect an Armenian policeman? What could be my attitude towards the fact that an Armenian man tries to kill an Armenian soldier or an Armenian policeman? You are aware that more than 200 policemen received wounds, including 50 people suffering from grave wounds and 40 people suffering from wounds caused by fire-arms. I am unable to understand how 50 people could have attacked one policeman. Even if the police had committed a mistake near the Opera, no one had the right to do anything of the kind.
After all, if the organizers had been a little bit concerned for the people and the state, they could have appeased their proponents and only then disputed the lawfulness of the law enforcers’ actions, resorting to legal methods. “As a newly elected President of Armenia, I would have unhesitatingly appointed an independent investigation and if necessary – invited someone from abroad, and we would have conducted an inquiry to find out who was guilty and who wasn’t. But there were some people who didn’t need that. What they needed was the March 1 events,” the speaker added, stating once again that the authorities were also to blame for what had happened because being perfectly aware of what the generals of the demonstration had on their minds, they were unable to prevent the blood-shed.”
LILIT POGHOSYAN

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THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT - A MAN OF HIS WORD AND PROMISES
LILIT POGHOSYAN
Newly elected president SERGE SARGSYAN yesterday had a meeting with the students of the State Economic University and answered a number of questions arousing interest in the public as well as clarified ...